New England Railroads that Never Were

[RussNelson]

I've created a web page for the New York State unfinished railroads, at http://russnelson.com/unfinished-railroads.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; . If somebody does the same thing for the New England unfinisheds, I'd be happy to add a link to it on my page.

[Ridgefielder]

I know of two in and near my hometown of Ridgefield, CT.

The New York, Housatonic & Northern was projected to run from a connection with the New York & Harlem at White Plains, NY to the Housatonic Railroad at Brookfield by way of Ridgefield and Danbury. The section from Danbury to Brookfield was actually built and in fact still exists; White Plains to Danbury was graded in parts but construction was halted because (IIRC) of the Panic of 1873 and never resumed.

There was another project that materialized around the turn of the 20th Century to build a line from Port Chester, NY to Danbury, by way of the Greenwich backcountry, Bedford NY, and Ridgefield. I know very little about this, other than that the grading is visible in places just west of Ridgefield Center. The local story-- which is likely completely apocryphal-- held that construction was halted at the behest of Pierpont Morgan himself as he spent time in Ridgefield during the summers, knew local landowners, and didn't want the town spoiled by development.

[ted_roy]

I had been told about a 2' gauge railroad that ran near the Brookfields (West of Worcester and east of Ware) in Central Mass. Did it exist? Any maps showing it?

[hrrphil]

A new book telling all about the Hampden Railroad has just been published.
Great book, lots of new and never seen pictures!!
Limited first printings are available direct from the author.
contact him at hrrphil (at) myway.com

[ebtmikado]

Here's a link to 287 photos of construction of the Hampden Railroad:

http://imagemuseum.smugmug.com/History/ ... &k=3gfg3Xr

Lee Carlson

[joshg1]

What I got out of Lowenthal's Titanic RR was a disagreeable meeting of skunks who tried through construction and purchase to scare the other side into submission. Both sides manipulated state and local governments and boosters with unfulfillable promises. So, not only the Hampden and SNE, but proposed and partially surveyed GT lines:

• from the SNE to Boston and Worcester
  between WRJ and Brattleboro
  WRJ to Manchester NH (or farther south..?)

In the same period:

• a Boston & Eastern interurban line with a terminal around Rowes Wharf and tunnel to Eastie
  a NH/B&A heavy rail tunnel under the harbor
  city and Commonwealth ideas (not even distant plans) to link North and South Stations directly, and another CR line (w/ multiple stops) from Castle Sq to North Sta.

I've read about extending the Suncook Valley up to Alton; through Franconia and Pinkham Notches; and the line from Manchester NH to Henniker on towards Claremont, ahead of the line from Concord.

[Ridgefielder]

In the same period:

• a Boston & Eastern interurban line with a terminal around Rowes Wharf and tunnel to Eastie
  a NH/B&A heavy rail tunnel under the harbor
  city and Commonwealth ideas (not even distant plans) to link North and South Stations directly, and another CR line (w/ multiple stops) from Castle Sq to North Sta.

I've read about extending the Suncook Valley up to Alton; through Franconia and Pinkham Notches; and the line from Manchester NH to Henniker on towards Claremont, ahead of the line from Concord.

Did any of these get as far as grading? If we're talking paper railroads (projected, surveyed or chartered but no actual construction started) the total mileage would probably exceed the mileage of the New England rail system at its peak. I can think of at least a half-dozen routes in Southwestern Connecticut alone.

[trainsinmaine]

I had been told about a 2' gauge railroad that ran near the Brookfields (West of Worcester and east of Ware) in Central Mass. Did it exist? Any maps showing it?

I can't find any reference to such a creature, nor do any of the online topo maps seem to indicate that it existed. I can't imagine why a narrow gauge RR would be built in that area, except perhaps as a short feeder line from a mill to the B&A.

Russ Nelson speaks of a proposed Brookfield Railroad that was partially constructed, but never completed, in New York. Here are some photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/russnelson ... 754352511/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Cosmo]

I had been told about a 2' gauge railroad that ran near the Brookfields (West of Worcester and east of Ware) in Central Mass. Did it exist? Any maps showing it?

Could this be what you meant?
https://sites.google.com/site/newenglan ... e-3/page-4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

WORCESTER & SHREWSBURY
The three-foot gauge railroad carried passengers from the Worcester Union Station to Lake Quinsigamond about two miles away. The Pathfinder timetable for October1886 showed seventeen weekday trains to the Lake.

[Kilgore Trout]

In the same period:

• a Boston & Eastern interurban line with a terminal around Rowes Wharf and tunnel to Eastie
  a NH/B&A heavy rail tunnel under the harbor
  city and Commonwealth ideas (not even distant plans) to link North and South Stations directly, and another CR line (w/ multiple stops) from Castle Sq to North Sta.

I've read about extending the Suncook Valley up to Alton; through Franconia and Pinkham Notches; and the line from Manchester NH to Henniker on towards Claremont, ahead of the line from Concord.

Did any of these get as far as grading? If we're talking paper railroads (projected, surveyed or chartered but no actual construction started) the total mileage would probably exceed the mileage of the New England rail system at its peak. I can think of at least a half-dozen routes in Southwestern Connecticut alone.

The Hartford & Harlem comes to mind, what else was there?

[Ridgefielder]

The Hartford & Harlem comes to mind, what else was there?

-Fairfield County Railroad (chartered as a horse railroad in the 1830's to connect Danbury to Westport)
-Stamford & Danbury (extension of the New Canaan Branch to Danbury via Ridgefield)
-Westchester Northern (extension of the NYW&B from White Plains to Danbury via Ridgefield)
-Various plans to build a route parallel to the Shore Line but inland- essentially following the later route of the Merritt Parkway. Think one was floated by the interests that built the Boston & New York Air-Line.

[Ridgefielder]

The Hartford & Harlem comes to mind, what else was there?

-Fairfield County Railroad (chartered as a horse railroad in the 1830's to connect Danbury to Westport)
-Stamford & Danbury (extension of the New Canaan Branch to Danbury via Ridgefield)
-Westchester Northern (extension of the NYW&B from White Plains to Danbury via Ridgefield)
-Various plans to build a route parallel to the Shore Line but inland- essentially following the later route of the Merritt Parkway. Think one was floated by the interests that built the Boston & New York Air-Line.

Found a map in the back of "Connecticut Railroads", by Greg Turner and Melancthon Jacobus showing "abortive railroads" in CT. Looks like there were 8 separate plans to parallel the Shore Line through Fairfield County. And in addition to the lines I mentioned above, there were also
-the Saugatuck Valley, Westport to Newtown
-the Hudson Suspension Bridge & New England, Peekskill NY to Danbury
-the New England & Erie, Brewster to Derby via Bethel and Newtown, with a branch from Newtown to Ridgefield via Easton and Redding.

[AVR Mark]

As an update to the Aroostook Valley Railroad posting that I made earlier, The Maine Department of Environmental Protection, along with the Town of Washburn, Have started a major project to restore "Salmon Brook" to a state that it was in prior to construction of the "Mill Pond Dam" and "The Berm". The "Mill Pond Dam" was built by the Army Corps of Engineers about 100 years ago. The area between the dam and the berm was formerly used as a municipal swimming pool. Of course, "The Berm" was built by the Aroostook Valley Railroad to cross over Salmon Brook at the beginning of the proposed line to Lac-Frontiere Quebec. The tracks across the Berm were removed sometime prior to 1982 as best as I can figure. Work to remove the dam and the Berm started by a local contractor on about February 25th 2014. It is supposed to cost $85,000.00 to remove both the dam and the Berm. Why they decided to start removing them in the middle of the winter is a mystery to me.

Mark

[RussNelson]

People might find this thread interesting: http://railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=77&t=155133" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"Old Mass. Central ROW and Culvert in Hardwick"

[FLRailFan1]

I posted before I saw another post about the book 'Connecticut Railroads'.Sorry.

The book 'Connecticut Railroads' has a section on PLANNED but never been railroads. One is the Springfield and New London and another was the Lee and Winsted.